KOREA, FREE TRADE AGREEMENT TO BE UPDATED?

In 2011, Korea became the first trading partner of the European Union in Asia to sign a Free Trade Agreement. In 2020, the volume of trade between Korea and EU countries reached 90 billion euros, an increase of 45% compared to 60 billion euros ten years ago.

Intellectual property, sustainability, regulatory transparency, issues related to the world of work; never before the FTA signed with South Korea had an agreement negotiated by the EU dealt with such vast issues; and, since then, this text has been the compass that guided the drafting of subsequent agreements. However, ten years have now passed, the results have been excellent, but trade policy and the global geopolitical landscape have changed; that’s why the President of European Chamber of Commerce of Korea asks to address topics, such as digitization and the green deal, unrelated to the current text: “A static FTA, over time, will lose its effectiveness. I am convinced that a modernized EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement is needed.” Adaptation to international standards, able to simplify procedures and alignment with the other agreements signed by the two parties,aiming at the rationalization of facilities for companies. Protectionist tendencies, so fashionable in this period of global emergency, will hardly allow the EU and South Korea to return to domestic economy models, for this purpose intelligence and cooperation between the parties are always necessary.